Metal chair



Ncv. 1, 1955 J HOJMAN ET AL METAL CHAIR Filed Sept. 25, 1952 iltrfwll IN V EN TOR.

A J N 0 & ALU MEL M uR 16 KI E 1 D B A W EKL o K 0 J United States Patent METAL CHAIR Jorge Abel Hojman, Ricardo Kiguel, and Alfredo Ibarlucia, Buenos Aires, Argentina Application September 23, 1952, Serial No. 311,024

Claims. (Cl. 155194) The invention relates to improvements in chairs.

Metal chairs as presently in use, generally speaking, are limited to a few models which principally are used as garden furniture, viz. destined for outdoor use where they may remain exposed to bad weather with greater impunity than wooden chairs which, although protected continuously with new layers of paint, nevertheless lose rapidly their resistance and enter into decay, having therefore a rather short life. This relatively limited use of chairs made entirely of metal is due before everything else to the circumstance that up to now it was impossible to overcome in their construction a defect of the metal, viz. changing a condition or quality inherent to metal which is its hardness. For this reason, when it was intended to make a softer, easier chair, it was always necessary to have again recourse to wood and willow or the like, at least in the part destined for the seat of the chair, as a metal seat showed itself due to its hardness highly uncomfortable and therefore inadequate to find buyers.

It is an object of this invention to create a new metal chair which, being entirely made of metal, avoids nevertheless the defect which has been mentioned, because, as will be seen from the description of the invention which follows hereafter, it has been possible to create a metal chair which is provided with such a soft seat, as in an easy chair, that it can rival, in this respect, a seat of any other material.

Another object of the invention is that it lends itself admirably to a very quick and therefore cheap construction upon a large scale. In addition to this, it offers an attractive, esthetic look with modern outlines.

For better comprehension of the invention and so as to carry it easily into practice, drawings are included, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the chair as described by the invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view seen from the front;

Fig. 3 shows a detail of the seat seen partly cut away and in perspective seen from the rear; and

Fig. 4 shows another detail of the back also seen from the rear.

In said figures the same reference numbers indicate similar or corresponding parts.

The new metal chair uses in its composition very few elements, as they consist only of an angle iron having an arm 1 which extends horizontally and another arm 2 which extends upwards. To these two arms 1 and 2 of the angle iron a definite angular relation may be given from the outset which will enable construction of the angle iron in one unit, or if it is desired to vary this angular relation between the two arms during use in accordance with the convenience and preference of the user, both arms 1 and 2 may be united by means of a socket joint or simply by putting the extreme of one arm to the extreme of the other one, perforating these extremes and fixing them together with a nut screw 3, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

Besides the pedestal, which will be explained later, only two more elements are needed for making a complete chair. These are two metal sheets one of which will constitute the seat and the other one the back of the chair.

To one of these sheets an adequate length will be given by cutting it, for example, from a longer roll of corresponding width so as to form therewith, by means of a series of folds, the soft seat which has been mentioned above. These folds will consist in a first member 4 which is followed by another one 5 at right angles to said member 4 which extends half the width of the Whole seat, a third member 6 which is bent in a contrary direction to that of narrow band 4, a band 7 which is so long that it will occupy the whole extension of the seat and there beyond sufiicient to give thereto a small undulation which will produce the central elevation 8, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. To this member 7 there is connected a member which is equal to member 6, but bent in contrary direction, viz. extending in the completed chair downwards, whereas member 6 will extend upwards, another member 10 which will have the same extension as member 5, viz. half the width of the whole seat, and which will extend the same as member 5 along said member 7, and finally the last member 11 is formed, being same size as the member 4 and bent in a direction soas to be side by side of said first member 4. No further folding will be possible, as the end of the extension of the sheet has been reached. When looking upon the drawing, it will be seen that the shape described resembles a box with two opposite sides removed which, due to the feeble resistance of the sheet, will allow for a certain compression between the upper side and the lower side of this incomplete box which thus forms the soft seat of the chair.

Preferably before beginning with the folding of the sheet which forms the seat, each one of the extremes of the sheet which constitute now members 4 and 11 will have been provided with two or more perforations which correspond in their positioning to perforations which also have been made upon the body of horizontal arm 1 of the angle iron so that these perforations will enable to fix members 4 and 11, one at one side, and the other one at the other side of horizontal arm 1 by means of the two nut screws 12 or any other suitable means.

The formation of back 13, using a sheet which is shorter and narrower than the seat member, is exactly the same folding operations which just have been described with regard to the seat, but with the diiierence that this time a slightly more ample extension will be given to members 14 and 15 which occupy half the Width of the back and which correspond to members 5 and 10 of the seat, whereas to member 16 which extends over the whole width of the back only its exact measure will be given, as when in use it will constitute the part against which will repose the back of the user and which therefore is not in need of the central elevation which exists in the long member 7 of the seat, but rather must be in conditions to cede a little backwards.

The fixing of this back part will be effected by means of perforations provided at the extremes of the folded sheet, formed by narrow members 17 and 18, as well as at the upper part of ascending arm 2, again nut screws 19 will get inserted into said perforations.

Still the pedestal needs to be explained. It consists simply of two rods or bars, both doubled exactly the same, so that also after cutting the rod or bar which will form half a pedestal to a length which will correspond to the formation of this half-pedestal, there will follow to a central stretch 20 by means of adequate doublings at both ends of said central stretch 20 at both sides another short stretch 21 and by means of a second doubling a longer final stretch 22. Thanks to these two doublings given to the rod or bar there already will be formed half a pedestal or by means of the two rods or bars a whole pedestal; and, for fixing each half-pedestal to the horizontal arm 1 of the angle iron, it will be sutficient having provided the central stretch 20 of each rod at the corresponding sites with the same perforations which have been made in said horizontal arm 1 and the two bands 4 and 11 which form the extremes of the seat sheet, so that in this event nut screws 12 may serve at the same time as retention and fixing means of the pedestal. Therefore, in accordance with this, for putting together the whole chair only four nut screws will be needed, two for the seat and the pedestal, and two more for fixing the back part. Eventually, when it is wished to vary the relationship between horizontal arm 1 and ascending arm 2 of the angle iron, a fifth nut screw will be needed, but in most cases this will be quite superfluous.

From the foregoing it is apparent that the new metal chair which forms the subject-matter of the present invention lends itself admirably to large scale production, since it will not be necessary to effect the numerous foldings and doublings both of the seat and the back, as well as of the rod or bar wherewith each half-pedestal is formed, individually one after the other. On the contrary, so as to effect a quick and cheap construction, it will be convenient making all these folding operations of each sheet and all these bending operations of each rod or bar in one operation by means of adequate moulds and presses.

With what has been described, the new metal chair will be made completely, but in use for example the free ends of legs 22 which touch the floor may still be provided with rubber caps 23 and of course the seat and the back may be covered for esthetic reasons with some kind of cloth, but these are finishing details which have nothing to do with the construction in itself of the chair which consists in the reunion, formation and disposition of the elements referred to in the present invention which thus constitutes a highly interesting furniture novelty.

It is further evident that there has been provided herein a chair comprising legs 22, a forwardly extending substantially horizontal seat supporting bar 1, carried by said legs 22, an upstanding back supporting bar 2 secured to the rearward end of said seat supporting bar 1, a first sheet of resilient material having its opposite end portions bent into spaced underlying relation with respect to the intermediate portion of said sheet and fixedly secured to said seat supporting bar 1 to define a yieldable seat, and a second sheet of resilient material having its opposite end portions bent into spaced relation with respect to the intermediate portion of said second sheet and fixedly secured to said back supporting bar 2 to define a yieldable chair back, each pair of said legs being formed of an elongated resilient member, each of said members comprising a central portion fixedly secured to said seat supporting bar 1,

below said seat, a laterally extending portion on each end of said central portion, and a depending portion on each of said lateral portions for hearing engagement with a supporting surface.

We claim:

1. A chair comprising a frame having a substantially horizontal seat supporting member and an upstanding back supporting member, a first sheet of resilient material having its opposite end portions bent into spaced underlying relation with respect to the intermediate sheet portion and fixedly secured to said seat supporting member to define a yieldable seat, and a second sheet of resilient material having its opposite end portions bent into spaced relation with respect to the intermediate portion of said second sheet and fixedly secured to said back support member to define a yieldable back rest.

2. A chair according to claim 1, the intermediate portion of first named sheet being undulated to conformably engage with the person of the user.

3. A chair comprising legs, a forwardly extending substantially horizontal seat supporting bar carried by said legs, an upstanding back supporting bar secured to the rearward end of said seat supporting bar, a first sheet of resilient material having its opposite end portions bent into spaced underlying relation with respect to the intermediate portion of said sheet and fixedly secured to said seat supporting bar to define a yieldable seat, and a second sheet of resilient material having its opposite end portions bent into spaced relation with respect to the intermediate portion of said second sheet and fixedly secured to said back supporting bar to define a yieldable chair back.

4. A chair according to claim 3, each pair of said legs being formed of an elongated resilient member, each of said members comprising a central portion fixedly secured to said seat supporting bar below said seat, a laterally extending portion on each end of said central portion, and a depending portion on each of said laterally extending portions for bearing engagement with a supporting surface.

5. A chair according to claim 4, said laterally extending portions diverging downwardly, whereby said legs afford resilient support to said seat supporting bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 150,683 Eames Aug. 24, 1948 644,506 Dromgold Feb. 27, 1900 1,976,449 Lorenz Oct. 9, 1934 2,361,875 Sachs Oct. 31, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 363,018 France Apr. 21, 1906 

